Addressing the stock options scandal, the 10-Q and 10-K offer no surprises, …

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It's interesting that Apple Computer waited until the Friday before New Year's Day of 2007 to release the long-delayed 10-Q and 10-K reports, although leaks and rumors relating to the SEC investigation surfaced earlier this week. The issue of backdating and spring-loading stock options, the admission by Steve Jobs that he was aware of some of these practices, "but did not benefit from them," and the possible falsification of records certainly qualify as a metaphor for a legal hangover starting next week. If so, the conclusion of the internal investigation is likely hoped to be something of a remedy for that distress.

“The special committee, its independent counsel and forensic accountants have performed an exhaustive investigation of Apple’s stock option granting practices,” in a joint statement said Al Gore, chair of the special committee, and Jerome York, chair of Apple’s Audit and Finance Committee. “The board of directors is confident that the Company has corrected the problems that led to the restatement, and it has complete confidence in Steve Jobs and the senior management team.”

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Those problems occurred between 1997 and 2002, and will require a non-cash charge of some $84 million. Earnings for fiscal years 2004, 2005, and 2006 will be lowered by $4 million, $7 million, and $10 million.

News of the end to the internal investigation has resulted in a jump in AAPL, up 5 percent today, though it is unlikely the matter is settled. It's one thing for Apple to find Apple innocent of malfeasance and quite another to deal with shareholder lawsuits and a potential criminal investigation by the SEC. Perhaps New Year's Eve of 2007 will have cause for celebration in the executive offices at The Campus in Cupertino, but not this year.